Snake Oil Song
An exhilarating and existential murder mystery in the Amazon jungle
$157,900
Highlights
Our Team
After witnessing the effects of illegal gold mining and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, we became motivated to bring a first-hand perspective to a global story. The story of a man's quest for vengeance is also the story of our brush with extinction.
About the Film
“In perhaps the most joyful filmmaking experience of my life, in May of 2018 I attended a workshop with 48 international filmmakers living in the Peruvian jungle with Werner Herzog. When instructed to tap into the "fever dreams in the jungle," I discovered a man in the riverside city of Puerto Maldonado. Not only did that trip provide a challenging filmmaking experience, but I fell in love with the vexing lure of the jungle. I wrote a short film, and to prepare for shooting, I hired a freelance translator to work with me and my actor. Within 30 minutes of shooting, I decided to cast the translator in the lead role instead. Our subsequent short film Del Arco Vacío finished #1 out of the Herzog program and with the discovery of Guillermo "Chino" Subauste, I began building a project for us on a larger canvas..."
Micah Van Hove is a director, producer and DP who has been exploring the possibilities in micro-budget cinema since 2009. His first feature film MENTHOL (from the producer of BOYZ N THE HOOD) premiered at the 2014 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In 2018, Micah's short film DEL ARCO VACÍO was selected as the #1 finalist for Black Factory Cinema's program with Werner Herzog in Peru. Micah's second solo directorial effort SHADOW OF A GUN won the Narrative Feature Audience Award at the 2018 Knoxville Film Festival in Tennessee. His music video work for artists like Weyes Blood, Neil Hamburger, Alex G and Ariel Pink has premiered on Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Vice, NPR and more. As a writer for No Film School since 2013, Micah has reached millions of readers in his effort to stimulate discourse around films that reflect a commitment to personal and courageous work.
From Short to Feature
Our short film Del Arco Vacío has played at festivals across South America including Bogoshorts, Doc Buenos Aires, Festival de Lima as well as a Werner Herzog foundation screening at the Munich cinematheque.
In 2018 the project was selected for the inaugural Short to Feature Lab, lead by Jim Cummings and Ben Wiessner. In the lab, Micah developed the story of Snake Oil Song and was mentored by American filmmaker Rick Alverson.
The Story of Snake Oil Song
Why This Story
Deforestation and illegal gold mining is destroying the Amazon jungle and threatens the life and well-being of surrounding regions. With the help of mentor Werner Herzog and our international co-producers, there has never been a a more pressing time to tell stories that ask questions about humanity's relationship with its environment. Our team is driven to tell this story from a first-hand perspective and deliver it to a world-wide audience.
Our Audience
This film will activate both audiences of the hardboiled film noir tradition from Taxi Driver to The Big Lebowski, pulling inspiration from the physicality of Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder, and the poetic realism of Stalker.
(And many more...)
Team
César Montoya — Production Designer
Having worked on much larger films in some of the same locations, César's expertise in construction and production design will be an invaluable asset for creating an authentic Amazon jungle environments that the characters inhabit.
César's work on Lost City of Z (2016):
How We Make Money
We make our income from deals with distributors in foreign territories for Theatrical, Digital, and Blu-Ray releases, while releasing the film ourselves across platforms domestically.